Category: Legal Spanish Vocabulary

As part of our business Spanish courses online and legal Spanish vocabulary series, today’s word is recurrir — an essential term for legal appeals and challenges in court.

From the Latin recorrere (“to run again”), the Spanish verb recurrir in legal contexts functions as a synonym of presentar or interponer un recurso. And what is a recurso? It is a legal mechanism available to the parties in a proceeding to challenge a judgment or resolution issued by a judge or authority.

The most well-known recurso is the recurso de apelación—an appeal. So, if an apelación is a recurso, that implies there are others, such as recurso de nulidad, recurso de queja, recurso de inconstitucionalidad, etc.

When you encounter the phrase sentencia recurrible, it means that the decision can be challenged through any form of recurso. On the other hand, if we say that a sentence is apelable, we’re specifying that it can be appealed, but we’re not necessarily indicating that it’s open to other types of recursos.

Learn more terms like this in our full business Spanish courses online. dc

🧠 Meaning

The phrase “disponer de” is a versatile and high-frequency structure in legal, business, and administrative Spanish. It translates most often as:

to have at one’s disposal / to have access to / to possess

It expresses availability, control, or legal authority over something—be it resources, property, rights, or time.

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🏛 In Legal and Administrative Spanish

In formal settings, “disponer de” is often used in contracts, official documents, and regulations to refer to:

• having ownership or control over goods or assets,
• using or allocating something (especially money, time, space, personnel),
• or holding a legal right to act.

Examples:

1. El arrendatario no podrá disponer del local para fines distintos a los pactados.
   The tenant may not use the premises for purposes other than those agreed upon.
2. La empresa dispone de tres semanas para presentar alegaciones.
   The company has three weeks to submit its objections.
3. El acusado no disponía de los medios económicos para afrontar la multa.
   The defendant did not have the financial means to pay the fine.

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🧱 Grammar Note

“Disponer de” is always followed by a noun (not an infinitive verb):

✅ Correct: El hotel dispone de 50 habitaciones.
🚫 Incorrect: El hotel dispone hacer reservas.

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💼 In Business & Corporate Use

In business contexts, disponer de is often used to describe:

• access to funding, facilities, infrastructure
• availability of personnel, technical capacity
• time or scheduling flexibility

Business Examples:

• ¿Dispone usted de tiempo para una reunión esta semana?
  Do you have time for a meeting this week?
• El cliente dispone de una línea de crédito preaprobada.
  The client has a pre-approved line of credit.

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🇬🇧 English Equivalents

Spanish	English Equivalent
disponer de recursos	to have resources at one’s disposal
disponer de tiempo	to have time
disponer de una propiedad	to hold / have access to / own a property
no disponer de medios	to lack the means

Note: Avoid translating it literally as “dispose of” — the English “to dispose of” means to throw away or get rid of, which is a false friend here. dc

Etymology
The verb “menoscabar” derives from the combination of “menos” (meaning “less” or “smaller”) and “cabo” (an archaic term meaning “to finish” or “to complete”). You might recognize this root in expressions like “al fin y al cabo” (at the end of the day) or “al cabo de 10 días” (after 10 days) or in Ciudad del Cabo (Cape Town). Together, “menoscabar” implies the act of reducing or lessening something, whether in value, strength, or integrity. This etymological root highlights the term’s role in describing harm or diminishment.

Use in Legal Context
In legal Spanish, “menoscabar” is a formal term used to describe actions that harm, impair, or undermine rights, dignity, or property. It is frequently found in legal texts, contracts, and proceedings, particularly when addressing damages, defamation, or violations of rights.

Examples and Translations
Human Rights Violations
“Cualquier acción que menoscabe los derechos humanos será considerada una violación del derecho internacional.”
Translation: “Any action that undermines human rights will be considered a violation of international law.”

Employment Law
“Los empleadores tienen prohibido tomar medidas que menoscaben la dignidad de los trabajadores.”
Translation: “Employers are prohibited from taking measures that undermine workers’ dignity.”

Defamation and Reputation
“El artículo publicado menoscabó gravemente la reputación del político, quien presentó una demanda por difamación.”
Translation: “The published article severely undermined the politician’s reputation, who filed a defamation lawsuit.”

Property Law
“El tribunal determinó que las construcciones ilegales habían menoscabado el valor de la propiedad vecina.”
Translation: “The court ruled that the illegal constructions had diminished the value of the neighboring property.”

Related Noun: Menoscabo
The masculine noun “el menoscabo” refers to the harm, damage, or impairment itself. It is a key term in legal discourse to specify the negative effects caused by an action.

“Sin menoscabo de” – Without prejudice to
Example: “Se adoptarán medidas sin menoscabo de los derechos de las partes afectadas.”
Translation: “Measures will be taken without prejudice to the rights of the affected parties.”

“Menoscabo patrimonial” – Financial harm or loss
Example: “El fraude resultó en un importante menoscabo patrimonial para la empresa.”
Translation: “The fraud resulted in significant financial harm to the company.” dc

Feminine noun. From the Latin querella, complaint, and derived from the Latin verb queri, to complain. I guess the English term query has the same root, as queri in Latin can also mean “to question.”

The Spanish feminine noun denuncia can also be translated into English as “complaint,” “report,” or “claim,” but in Legal Spanish, querella and denuncia are two very different concepts. Both express the idea of a statement or account that someone has committed a crime. This statement, in both cases, can be made to either a judge or the police. However, in the case of a querella, the person who makes the statement, called el/la querellante, is the victim of the crime and may or may not be involved in the prosecution. Here, we can identify two different situations:

1. In delitos de acción privada
   The querellante initiates the proceedings and is personally involved in them. What is a delito de acción privada? It is a type of crime that, because it is not considered serious enough to affect the public order of society, cannot be prosecuted ex officio by public authorities (such as the police, judges, or the Public Ministry). Instead, the active intervention of the victim is required as the promoter of the judicial action and as a participant in the judicial process; e.g., defamation (calumnias).
2. In delitos semipúblicos
   A querella is an indispensable condition to initiate the proceedings. Once the querella is filed, the victim’s intervention in the proceedings is no longer necessary, and the process becomes independent of the victim. Although the querellante is not obligated to actively pursue the prosecution, they are not entitled to withdraw the querella; e.g., breach of confidence (divulgación de secretos).

The verb for querella is querellar, and the verb for denuncia is denunciar. The person who files a denuncia is called el/la denunciante. dc

Servidumbre is a legal concept in Spanish law that refers to an easement or a burden placed on one property (predio siriviente) for the benefit of another property (predio dominante). This means that the owner of the predio sirviente must allow the owner of the predio dominante to perform certain actions on their land, such as accessing a road, installing utility lines, or using water.

Key Terms:
Predio dominante: This is the property that benefits from the servidumbre. For example, if your neighbor’s property has no direct access to a public road, they may have the right to cross your land (predio sirviente) to reach it. In this case, their property is the predio dominante.

Predio sirviente: This is the property that carries the burden of the easement. The owner must allow certain use of their land by the dominant estate. However, the predio sirviente remains fully owned by its owner, and the use by the predio dominante is typically limited to what’s strictly necessary.

Types of Servidumbre:
In our legal systems, there are various types of servidumbre, such as:Servidumbre de paso (right of way): A common type of easement, allowing one property owner to cross another’s land for access.
Servidumbre de luces y vistas (light and view easement): This type prevents a property owner from obstructing their neighbor’s access to natural light or scenic views.
Servidumbre de aguas (water easement): This allows for the flow or use of water from one property to another.
How Servidumbre is Created:
A servidumbre can be established in different ways, including:By agreement: Through a contract between property owners.
By law: Some servidumbres are legally mandated, such as those needed for public utilities.
By necessity: This occurs when one property is completely landlocked and requires access through neighboring land.
How Servidumbre Ends:
A servidumbre can be extinguished through:Mutual agreement between the parties.
Change of circumstances, such as when the dominant property no longer needs access.
Non-use for an extended period, as defined by law.
In summary, servidumbre is a practical and legally recognized way to manage property use between neighboring lands, ensuring that one property can benefit from certain rights over another.

In legal Spanish, “título” refers to a document or instrument that establishes ownership, rights, or legal status. It can pertain to property (e.g., land titles) or qualifications (e.g., academic degrees). The word also extends into other forms, such as: Titular: This refers to the holder of the title or rights. For example, a “titular” of a property is the recognized owner. Titularidad: This denotes the state or condition of holding a title or rights, emphasizing the legal recognition of ownership or entitlement: La Diputación entrega al Ayuntamiento de Los Barrios un inventario de todos los caminos de titularidad pública . These terms are fundamental in law, reflecting the formal acknowledgment of rights and ownership.